Main:Hong Un-Jong
Hamgyong, North Korea |Row 3 title = Height |Row 3 info = 5 ft. 1 in. |Row 4 title = Club |Row 4 info = Pyongyang Sports Club |Row 5 title = Coach(es) |Row 5 info = Kim Chun Phi & Choe Kyong Hui |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Retired}}Hong Un-Jong (Hangul: 홍콩 취소 종, born March 9, 1989 in Hamgyong, North Korea) is a retired North Korean artistic gymnast. She was an individual event finalist on the vault at the 2007 World Championships and the bronze medalist on the event at the 2006 Asian Games. Hong represented North Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she won the gold medal in the women's vault competition. This was the first Olympic medal for a North Korean woman in Olympic gymnastics. She is a two-time Olympian, having also competed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She is also the 2014 World Vault Champion. Hong is capable of performing a triple twisting Yurchenko style vault, and has submitted it four times: at the Beijing Olympics, the 2013 and 2014 World Championships, and Rio Olympics. She is the younger sister or possibly twin sister of Hong Su-Jong. Career 2006-2007 She began competing at the 2006 Asian games, where she was the bronze medalist on vault. She was an individual event finalist on the vault at the 2007 World Championships, where she placed fourth, just .212 away from the bronze medal. Beijing Olympics Hong represented North Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she won the gold medal in the women's vault competition. This was the first Olympic medal for a North Korean woman in Olympic gymnastics. 2010-2012 In November 2010, she was banned from all competition out of North Korea for inconsistent age information for two years. Hong Su-Jong was banned from all competition in and out of North Korea for initiating the discrepancies. The ban ended on October 5th 2012. Hong competed in the 2012 Asian Championships, winning silver with her team and on vault. 2013-2015 Hong competed at the Universiade, tying for gold on vault with Ksenia Afanasyeva of Russia. She was named North Korea's sole athlete at the World Championships. In qualifications, she competed in the first subdivision, qualifying for the vault final in third place. She performed seventh in the vault final, scoring a 15.566 on her Amanar and a 15.400 on her Cheng, averaging out to a 15.483. She finished third behind USA's McKayla Maroney and Simone Biles. The following week, she competed at the East Asian Games, winning bronze with her team and gold on vault. She also placed seventh on beam and sixth on floor. In April 2014, she competed at the Osijek World Cup. She fell on her second vault and, because she didn't land on her feet first, she received a zero, and finished eighth. That September, one of her teammates, Cha Yong-Hwa was discovered to be underage at several competitions. This resulted in Hong being stripped of her team silver from the 2006 Asian Games and team bronze from the 2009 Universiade, though she did gain an individual uneven bars bronze in the latter competition. That month, she also competed at the Asian Games, winning vault gold and team silver. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Nanning, China. The North Korean team finished twenty-third in qualifications, qualifying a full team to the next World Championships. Individually, Hong edged out Americans Simone Biles and Mykayla Skinner to win the World title on vault. In May 2015, she competed at the Varna World Cup, but didn't make the event finals. She fared better at the World Championships in October, winning silver behind Russia's Maria Paseka. Rio Olympics Prior to competition, footage surface of Hong training a triple-twisting Yurchenko vault in the training gyms in Rio de Janeiro. She again submitted the vault to the FIG. She competed in the first subdivision of qualifications, starting on vault. She opted to stick with the Amanar for qualifications to ensure herself a spot in the final. She qualified second. In the final, she performed the triple-twisting Yurchenko as her second vault, but underrotated and sat down. She finished sixth. Hong showed up at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia as a coach, having retired and begun coaching at Pyongyang City Sports Club.retired, coaching Medal Count References